Emergency fuel stop for diesel engines



E. [IWILLHAUCK 2,869,530

EMERGENCY FUEL STOP FOR DIESEL ENGINES Jan. 20, 1959- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1, 1957 Mix INVENTOR.

EVERETTE ILAS BY W/LLHAUCK EMERGENCY FUEL STOP FOR DIESEL ENGINES 'Jan. 20, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 1 1957 FIG. 5

United States Patent cc EMERGENCY FUEL STOP FOR DIESEL ENGINES Everette Ilas Willhauck, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application May 1, 1957, Serial No. 656,454

3 Claims. (Cl. 123-140) This invention relates to apparatus for stopping diesel engines, and more particularly to a device for cutting off the fuel flow to governor-controlled engines.

Since diesel engines normally do not have an ignition system, special systems are required to shut off the engine. One of the most extensively used engines, the General Motors 71 series, has a flap like valve in the 'air intake manifold for throttling the flow of air to the cylinders, thereby to stop the engine, but this system is not considered entirely satisfactory. The valve may develop a leak around gasket or blower seals, or if it should become necessary to stop the engine at high speed before it runs away, closure of the valve may result in its being torn loose by the large inflow of air. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive foolproof emergency fuel cut-off for diesel engines, especially engines of the GM 71 series type.

This engine has from one to six cylinders arranged in line, and each cylinder has a separate fuel metering and injection unit. A tube-like shaft located on top and almost in the center of the cylinder head of the engine has fuel-control arms extending therefrom to the fuel metering units, and the shaft is rotated by a governor which predetermines the minimum and maximum engine speed. In other words, the position of the shaft determines the amount of fuel supplied to the engine, and since the shaft is coupled to a minimum speed governor, it has not heretofore been possible to cut-off the flow of fuel entirely.

Briefly, the present invention contemplates that the governor will be connected to the shaft through a yieldable coupling, preferably one of a type that fits within the tubular fuel-control shaft. An arm fixed to the shaft is then actuated through a lost-motion connection to rotate the shaft to a fuel cut-off position, when it is desired to stop the engine, the yieldable coupling permitting such rotation but the shaft otherwise being under control of the governor.

Other features of the invention will be in part ap parent from and in part pointed out in the following detail description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, parts being broken away, of the tubular shaft that is located on top and almost in the center of cylinder head of the GM 71 series diesel engine to control the flow of fuel to the cylinders of the engine;

Fig. 2 is a relatively enlarged view of a device contained in the shaft to permit emergency cut-off of the fuel;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken generally on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional View illustrating an alter native embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic top view of a diesel engine, parts being broken away.

Referring now to the drawings, in Fig. 5, an engine is shown to have a housing with side walls 1 for receiving a head cover 3, part of which is broken away. A tubu- 2,869,530 Patented Jan. 20, 1959 lar shaft G, which is a conventional part of the GM 71 series diesel engines, is located on top the cylinder head and is rotatably mounted upon brackets H. Control arms I are rigidly secured to the shaft and are adapted to cooperate with the individual fuel metering and injector units 7, of which there is one for each cylinder unit 5 of the engine. It will be understood that the injectors are small reciprocating pumps operated by rocker arms, and that each injector includes a movable control rack 9, the position of which controls the amount of fuel injected. These parts are not illustrated or described in further detail because they are well known in the industry;

The shaft G further includes an arm I at one end, which is connected to link 11 to a governor 13, hence the governor rotates the shaft G in order to control the speed of the engine. This arrangement is also well known in the art, hence is not described in detail. It may be noted, however, that the speed of a diesel engine is held between predetermined minimum and maximum values by the governor for reasons of efiicient operation.

Heretofore, the governor arm I has been directly connected, as by a pin, to the tubular shaft G, but the present invention contemplates that a yieldable coupling will be disposed between the governor arm I and the shaft G. More particularly, an assembly, such as that shown in Fig. 2, is contained within the tube G. This assembly includes a rod F having brass bushings A-1 and A-2 for holding the rod F in aligned relationship with respect to the tube. The bushings are secured directly to the rod and are relatively rotatable with respect to the tube. One end of the rod F projects beyond the bushing A-2, and the governor arm I is rigidly secured thereto. A front spring holder B, which is slotted to hold the front end of a spring D, is secured on the rod, as by a screw (not shown), and a small bushing E may be similarly secured to hold the front bushing A-2 against the front bracket H. The assembly also includes a rear spring holder C, which is slotted to receive the back end of the spring D. The back spring holder is not secured to the shaft H but is rather secured to the tube G, as by means of a pin or screw S threaded through the tube G. Ac cordingly, rotary movement of the governor arm I is transmitted by the shaft F and spring D to the tube G. The spring should be rather stiff so that the tube G will normally move directly with the governor arm I for normal speed control of the engine.

On the other hand, the spring D is adapted to permit relative rotation of the tube G with respect to the governor arm upon application of another force. More particularly, a release arm K is secured to the tube G and a lost-motion type of connection extends from the end of arm K to the interior of the cap. For example, this lost-motion connection might be a wire L extending through an opening M at the free end of the release arm K, the wire having a stop member N afiixed to its free end in normally-spaced relationship from the arm K. The spaced relationship between the arm K and the member N is such that the tube G may be rotated through its normal range of movement by the governor, but when the wire is pulled until the stop member N engages the member K, the tube G is rotated against the bias of spring D (otherwise held by the governor) in order to close the fuel feed of the several injector units, thereby stopping the engine.

The arrangement illustrated is particularly adapted for installation on existing engines, since the yieldable coupling can be readily inserted in the existing tubular shaft G, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Although a spring type of yielding coupling is disclosed, other variations will be readily apparent. For example, a clutch type of device is illustrated in Fig. 4. The arrangement is similar to that shown in Fig. 2 except that the spring D-l is ofa compression type and is adapted to bias a keyed back clutch member C-l into engagement witha front clutchmernber B-l. The clutch members may have interlocking' teeth T,b ut otherwise the' a'rrang'ement is the'sar n e as that described in connection with Fig. 2, in that the part B 1 is secured against rotation relative to the shaft F whereas the part G l issecured against rotation relative to the tube G. i i a 'Although several embodiments have been described, it should be understood the invention is not restricted thereto, but rather encompasseslequivalents, as will nornially occur to those skilled in the art. i

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patterifis:

"1. A fuel-control shaft for diesel engines comprising an elongate hollow tube, a rod element extending into said tube and from one end'there'of; said 'rodelement being rotatable, at least within limits,'with respect to said tube, means on the projecting end of said rod elementfor connection to a governor so as to be rotated thereby, means on said tube for actuating the fuel-control means of a diesel engine, a releasable coupling contained within said tube having a first part secured to said rod and a second cooperating part secured to said tube, said first and second parts having a releasable interconnection with one another to permit rotation of the shaft by said rod, and operator-controlled means having a lost-motion connection to said shaft for rotating said shaft independently of said rod, the releasable coupling permitting rotation of the shaft by said operator-controlled means relative to said rod element.

2 A fuel-control shaft asset forth in claim 1, wherein said first and second parts of the coupling are yieldably held againstrelative rotation by means of a coil spring contained within said tube and disposed to bias said first and second parts against one another.

3. A fuel-control shaft as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first and second parts of the coupling are interconnected by means of a coil spring contained within said tube.

555,362 Great Britain Aug. 19, 1943 

